Moving to South Dakota as a home inspector: every state's rule

South Dakota licenses home inspectors statewide, and the agency that does it is not a contractor board, because the state has none: it is the South Dakota Real Estate Commission, part of the Department of Labor and Regulation. Under SDCL chapter 36-21C, no person may provide, or hold themselves out as able to provide, a home inspection for compensation unless registered or licensed by the Commission, and doing so without a credential is a Class 1 misdemeanor. The credential has two grades. An applicant becomes a Registered Home Inspector by completing a Commission-approved course of at least 40 hours and passing the home inspector examination; after working at the registered grade for at least a year and performing at least 100 home inspections for compensation, that person files an experience log and upgrades to Licensed Home Inspector. The Commission's own answer is that once licensed there is no distinction between the duties and responsibilities of a licensed home inspector and those of a registered home inspector, so the two grades differ in how they are earned rather than in what they allow, and neither is sponsored or supervised by anyone else. The law reaches one- to four-unit residential buildings and covers the heating, cooling, plumbing and electrical systems, structural components, foundation, roof, masonry structure, and exterior and interior components. It does not reach a code enforcement official, a state-regulated architect, professional engineer, electrical contractor or plumber, a licensed real estate broker or salesperson, a certified appraiser, an insurance adjuster or a licensed manufactured home dealer acting within their own scope. Licenses and registrations run on a two-year cycle that ends on 31 December, renew for $100 by 30 November, and depend on 24 hours of approved continuing education. South Dakota requires no insurance, bond or net assets of a home inspector.